Vancouver says on budget, increases hiring

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Organizers of the
2010 Olympics say they remain on budget and are seeing staff
ranks growing as they move from the construction to the
operational phase of the Winter Games.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee, which has sung a mantra
of "on time, on budget" since construction began, continued to
sing that tune on Friday as it released its latest quarterly
financial report.

VANOC said the financial quarter ended January 31 had a
positive cash balance of C$56.5 million ($57.1 million).

Organizers have pegged the cost of hosting the Winter Games
on Canada's Pacific Coast at C$1.6 billion, including C$580
million in venue construction costs that are being funded by
the federal and provincial governments.

VANOC has promised to have all its major sporting venues
completed by the time the 2008 Olympics in Beijing begin this
summer and has already begun hosting events to test the
facilities.

Organizers said they hired 87 people during the quarter and
now have a full-time staff of 590.